Deaf Education Catalyst Grant: Canisius College

Choice #4: Professional Portolios – Example of Approved Proposal

A Proposal for Participation

Patricia N. Chrosniak, Ph.D. (Principal in Summer and Fall, 2000)

Marilyn K. Farmer, M.S. (Principal in Spring, 2001)

Title: The Professional Acts Portfolio: A Vehicle for Self-Evaluation

Description: In many graduate and undergraduate education programs students prepare portfolios that are used for presentation in the job interview. These portfolios range from enhanced resumes to elaborate tomes containing instructional units, lesson plans, and sundry other artifacts from practica and student teaching experiences. In some graduate programs a portfolio serves as a vehicle for the right of passage instead of a comprehensive examination. For the most part, portfolios are essentially a product with a modest indication of prior process.

The Canisius College Graduate Deaf Education is incorporating two portfolios that are meant to demonstrate professional growth as a continuous process as well as to serve as vehicles for securing a position as teacher of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth. One portfolio, the Career Portfolio, is essentially an enhanced resume that focuses upon the teacher as an individual ready to take on professional responsibilities as demonstrated in vivid delineation of academic experiences encountered during graduate school. The second portfolio, the Professional Acts Portfolio, is one that elaborates upon the teacher's experiences and serves as a bridge into the first year of teaching where professional mentorship will facilitate growth in that first year. This portfolio also serves as the means for the graduate student to describe and "defend" her or his perceptions of what has been accomplished throughout the graduate experience but more importantly what the student predicts and believes for future involvement in deaf education. It is the "comprehensive exam" for the Canisius College Program.

The Professional Acts Portfolio

This portfolio is a web-based one that is started during the first (summer) semester of studies at Canisius College beginning with summer 2000. It includes material from each course and professional experience as interpreted by its creator. Since some courses require the use of other computer technologies, such as Power Point and alternative communication programs, the Professional Acts Portfolio will enable the graduate student to show his or her abilities in using these technologies through personal interpretation on line.

Each faculty member in the Program incorporates discussion in his or her course about what might possibly be put in the PAP. And, all faculty members, during their monthly faculty meetings, strive to clarify what they believe should be involved in the portfolio and how each personal contribution links to others across the courses. The two professors teaching the Program curriculum courses monitor the development of the graduate students' PAPs and share their work with the other faculty and individual students so that the portfolio will show more of the process of growth than the product.

Goals and Objectives of the Project: The main goal of this project is to provide a web-based vehicle that will be a part of the final experiences of the culmination of graduate studies. By using the web, each graduate student must attempt to interpret his or her experiences for the college audience as well as for the broader audience of employers, other graduate students, and teachers who will access the website. After graduation, beginning with the class of 2001, the Canisius College Program will be following up on each of its new teachers in a first year mentorship process. The Professional Acts Portfolio will serve as the focal point for student self-evaluation as well as for professional dialogue about progress with their mentors.

Proposed Procedures: The procedures for helping students develop Professional Acts Portfolios include the following:

One initial session in the summer (first semester) in which the portfolio process is described to the new graduate students (June, 2000);
One introductory session with Program faculty to develop a dialogue about how

The Professional Acts Portfolio will involve their courses (July, 2000);

Collaboration between the two faculty involved in the two curriculum courses for

developing the content of each course to include sharing of Professional Acts (July, 2000 and on-going, Dr. Pat Chrosniak and Marilyn Farmer);

One training session by a member of the Canisius College Instructional Technology Services on how to make webpages (October, 2000, Estelle Siener);
Graduate student presentation of fall semester progress in creating the PAP webpage (December, 2000 curriculum class, Pat Chrosniak);
Continuation of the process of faculty sharing about the PAP (monthly faculty

meetings);

Continuation of the individual development of each PAP during spring 2001

semester curriculum course (Marilyn Farmer);

Individual student presentations of their Professional Acts Portfolios (May, 2001);
Incorporation of the PAPs in the Canisius College Deaf Education webpage (May, 2001);
Final evaluation by the faculty of the year's experience.

Educational Technology Involved: This project involves the development of webpages. Depending upon each individual's own Professional Acts Portfolio, links within the webpage may include: Power Point demonstrations from courses, descriptions of software and internet resources that were integrated in classroom lesson plans and unit plans; explanations of how distance learning equipment was used.

Evaluation Plans: The evaluation of the successful development of the Professional Acts Portfolio as a tool for graduate student interpretation of the process of becoming a teacher will occur in the final days of each of the curriculum courses in the fall and spring semesters. Each student will be required to present his or her PAP to a committee of three persons that consist of Program faculty and cooperating teachers. The committee for each student will be assigned by the Program Director with suggestions from the student. These presentations will determine the final grade for graduate studies.

The PAP, itself, will show the student's abilities to integrate technology within the vehicle itself, as well as to show a demonstration of technology used in coursework and practicum experiences, including student teaching. These will be placed on the Deaf Education webpage at Canisius College.